Lightning, Duchesne
- When
- July 18, 2:00 PM MST
- Where
- Duchesne County, 12 mi N of Neola
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Injuries
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Coordinates
- 40.298, -110.425 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Utah, July 18, 1997
Lightning struck a group of Scouts camping in the Uinta mountains on this date. 1 young Boy Scout and 2 Scout leaders were hit by the lightning.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 2
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS SLC wrote it up.
Lightning struck a group of Scouts camping in the Uinta mountains on this date. 1 young Boy Scout and 2 Scout leaders were hit by the lightning. 1 of the Scout leaders died. The group was hiking at the time from Cliff Lake to Henry's Fork Lake at an approximate elevation of 11,000 feet asl when the thunderstorm hit.
The radar
The Salt Lake City radar (KMTX), 201 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:01 UTC.
Event by event
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
The people who died
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, Duchesne | 1997-07-18 | 52 | Male | Camping | Direct |
What these are
- Lightning
- A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Hail and Damaging Winds in New York, July 18, 1997
- Hurricane in Alabama, July 18 to 22, 1997
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in New Jersey, July 18, 1997
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in Pennsylvania, July 18, 1997
- Tornado and Flood in Wisconsin, July 18, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in New York, July 18, 1997
- Damaging Winds in Ohio, July 18, 1997
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in New Jersey, July 18, 1997
- Damaging Winds in New York, July 18, 1997
- Lightning Strikes in Alabama, July 18, 1997
- Damaging Wind in District of Columbia, July 18, 1997
- Tornado in Illinois, July 18, 1997
More
Every storm in Utah in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, July 1997
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5622902.